The Congress Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government (GIE) met in Strasbourg, France, on 20 and 21 September 2018. 30 years after the entry into force of the Charter, members reviewed the Congress' experience in monitoring and discussed new tools that could be developed to contribute to a better integration of the Charter's principles into the domestic law of the 47 Council of Europe member states.
On the agenda of the meeting were several items relating to the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the Member States. The members of the GIE discussed in particular recent developments in the Congress' monitoring activity, local and regional election observation missions, and the results of fact-finding missions. They also discussed constitutional issues in the context of the cooperation with the Venice Commission. In addition, the GIE has initiated a reflection on the application of the Charter in the context of the new problems faced by local authorities today.
Following the renewal of the composition of the GIE, at this annual meeting, Angel MORENO, Professor of Administrative Law at Carlos III University in Madrid, was re-elected to chair the Expert Group for a five-year term. "We must continue to mobilise so that the national and judiciary authorities recognise the binding nature of the Charter as an international treaty and ensure its integration into domestic law," Mr. MORENO said in an interview.
The Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government (GIE) brings together experts with competence in the legal, political or financial fields, and specialised in local and regional democracy issues. The Group assists the three statutory committees of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in the exercise of their statutory responsibilities, in particular to prepare reports on the situation of local and regional democracy in the States monitored in the application of the Charter, and general reports on the working themes of the three committees. In this sense, the main mission of the Group is to provide legal assistance to the Congress in its political mission.
